I know there's better options but is anyone using it for wildlife, birds, BIF? What's your experiences?
I loved using my DF and caught stationary birds decently. I never really tried BIF with it. I know the ZF is an
entirely different camera than the DF with AF and processing power however.
I currently just have Fmount lenes. I sold off my D5 with the thought of going D850 to down size a little.
I do miss my D5 tremendously.
Anyways my budget is $2K so these are my two options.
There are a couple people here who have used it for birds, it seems to perform very well. I can't remember what thread the examples/discussion were posted in. As you know, the ZF has the Z8/Z9 subject detection algorithms and processing, just not the benefits of the stacked sensor.
Ergonomically obviously is it less than ideal for wildlife and use with larger lenses, but if it doesn't bother you then it's not a problem.
The Z6III should be announced any day as well and that will probably be close to your budget and a much better option for birds/wildlife. Might be worth waiting to see exactly what that brings if you're currently in the market.
I'm using the Zf as my second body for wildlife photography. I have a Z9, so that is used as my primary shooter.
I brought the Z9 and Zf to Bosque and kept the Zf on the 180-600. I had good success with a variety of wildlife subjects, like peccary, roadrunner, and black bird murmurations.
The AF system is very similar to the Z9, but the Zf does not offer the smooth black-out free shooting experience or frame rate that I enjoy with the Z9. I've programmed my Zf to behave like the Z9, but with its limited customizable buttons and lack of "custom user" settings, it has its limits.
In spite of the latter, the camera feels rugged and is a "bargain" in Nikon's lineup because it offers the AF algorithms of the Z8/Z9 at half the price.
Tyr-Sog wrote:
I currently just have Fmount lenes. I sold off my D5 with the thought of going D850 to down size a little.
I do miss my D5 tremendously.
Anyways my budget is $2K so these are my two options.
Thank you in advance!
Justin
CanadaMark wrote:
There are a couple people here who have used it for birds, it seems to perform very well. I can't remember what thread the examples/discussion were posted in. As you know, the ZF has the Z8/Z9 subject detection algorithms and processing, just not the benefits of the stacked sensor.
Ergonomically obviously is it less than ideal for wildlife and use with larger lenses, but if it doesn't bother you then it's not a problem.
The Z6III should be announced any day as well and that will probably be close to your budget and a much better option for birds/wildlife. Might be worth waiting to see exactly what that brings if you're currently in the market....Show more →
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OwlsEyes wrote:
I'm using the Zf as my second body for wildlife photography. I have a Z9, so that is used as my primary shooter.
I brought the Z9 and Zf to Bosque and kept the Zf on the 180-600. I had good success with a variety of wildlife subjects, like peccary, roadrunner, and black bird murmurations.
The AF system is very similar to the Z9, but the Zf does not offer the smooth black-out free shooting experience or frame rate that I enjoy with the Z9. I've programmed my Zf to behave like the Z9, but with its limited customizable buttons and lack of "custom user" settings, it has its limits.
In spite of the latter, the camera feels rugged and is a "bargain" in Nikon's lineup because it offers the AF algorithms of the Z8/Z9 at half the price.
D5 or D6 for sure for the AF and handling but having just sold my D5 with the thoughts of going a little lighter I dunno.
D5 was just brilliant. IQ was phenomenal and that's what it got beat up on the most lol
Maybe I'll wait to see what the Z6iii has to offer.
I'm wondering AF performance between the D850 and ZF? Any thoughts?
I don't have D850 anymore but for perched birds, Zf would be better just because of subject recognition and the focus would go straight to the eyes (as long as the bird or animal is big enough but I think 15-20% filled frame is certainly big enough) . For bif, I only tried a little with Zf so far as I use mainly Z8/Z9 for that but Zf is surprisingly good for that. Added convenience that bird could be anywhere in the frame and AF still works to me make it a better camera than D850. The only real disadvantage is that you can't crop as much as D850.
Maybe I'll wait to see what the Z6iii has to offer.
I'm wondering AF performance between the D850 and ZF? Any thoughts?
While the D850 has a good AF engine, the ZF beats it on subject recognition, tracking, capacity to use the entire viewfinder, and compatibility with Z lenses. If I was going to snatch up FLE lenses at bargain basement prices, I consider buying a D850/D5/D6, if you plan on buying Z glass in the present or future, you'll benefit from have Z bodies.
OwlsEyes wrote:
While the D850 has a good AF engine, the ZF beats it on subject recognition, tracking, capacity to use the entire viewfinder, and compatibility with Z lenses. If I was going to snatch up FLE lenses at bargain basement prices, I consider buying a D850/D5/D6, if you plan on buying Z glass in the present or future, you'll benefit from have Z bodies.
bruce
I'm thinking of selling my beautiful Sigma 500 f4 Sport, Nikon 24-70 vr, 70-200e, etc...
Replacing it with the ZF with kit lens 24-70 f4 and Z100-400S.
Tyr-Sog wrote:
I went with a used D850 for now. I’ll add the zf at a later date.
Thank you all.
I think you made a great decision. D5 is great but the D850's resolution will make you smile. See if you can add the grip and the bigger battery to get 9FPS.
sanjayg wrote:
I think you made a great decision. D5 is great but the D850's resolution will make you smile. See if you can add the grip and the bigger battery to get 9FPS.
Thanks for the reassurance! That resolution was what was really the deciding factor, well and cost. Plus I'm not sure about the ZF on my Siggy 500mm.
9900 shots on it for $1425. I mean really, what a bargain.
